I think they've got the delivery concept nailed but I'm unconvinced by other stuff:

* The reader is too bulky. I imagine they'll have a repackaged version two out within a year or so with a slide-out keyboard, less bezel and much thinner. As stands, it looks too big to find space for in a bag.

* The video shows some example newspapers and they look awful. Until there are enough readers to warrant the effort on specific layout/typesetting the visual quality is going to be poor.

* As with other digital distribution models (music, games, TV) I'm unimpressed by the prices, which seem to be barely and grudgingly undercutting the paperback editions when they are available but higher otherwise. Exactly how this is panning out in terms of publisher payments etc. I don't know, but it seems set to be another case where cutting out the costs of the physical product isn't going to provide the consumer with any long-term savings.

I'm not a fan of Newsweek but this article has really got my juices flowing.

Looks as if out-of-copyright classics can be downloaded for a couple of dollars, which is right there in impulse territory.

Obviously this is currently far more useful for text-only books rather than newspapers or illustrated books, but that will change. Very exciting. What would be good would be some kind of guarantee to early adopters that you can upgrade as the technology improves. Because, obviously, you'll get better versions of this every few months and $400 is quite a lot of outlay.

Isn't there some sort of anti-american principle you're violating by purchasing american products? Aren't you contributing to the global military industrial complex led by the freemasons... who helped plan and carry out the 9/11 attacks using airplanes fill with pieces of concrete and debri and filling the building with millions of ketchup packets before impact.

otto wrote:
Anyway, the European competition is technically superior, just too expensive... As usual...

Wow, "technically superior"? But yet it's "too expensive"? What an incredible coincidence that is! Only in Europe do things of higher quality cost more money!

European luxury products are highly desirable in the United States. I'm getting a Mercedes in the Spring. I really want an Italian Sports car some day. I'd like to be able to afford clothes from Euro designers.

Out of all those, I think the Sony e-Reader is the front runner at the moment. And I think that the following 'feature is the reason why the Illiad is not for me: "Powerful: Practically an e-ink tablet PC". :/ Also, the price is fooking brutal by comparison with its peers.

yegon wrote:
Very happy using the iPod Touch for ebooks, helped somewhat by the truly epic collection of ebooks I've, ahem, acquired over the years.

do you mind me asking how that works? is it via a jailbreak application or does it come with some kind of ebook reader? or do you just have loads of jpgs

I wouldn't mind getting a device for ebooks, but the kindle looks like it was made for 12 year old school kids in the third world. has that extremely cheap looking plastic which probably cracks if you so much as sneeze on it (i've seen the drop tests saying otherwise, but it still looks super cheap).

Looking at those readers otto linked to, none of them are particularly lookers are they? The Sony one and whatever that one at the bottom is looks most promising for nice shell design. Kindle may well have a stunning feature set for all I know, but it's a hideous piece of shit

I would rather use something like an iphone or ipod touch to read books from the web although the kindle's electronic paper display is nice.

I don't know what the word is for these kind of devices that are sold (often at a low price) but that lock you into one particular provider's service online.

Apart from being generally anti competitive this kind of lock in often means that you can't see all of the content that is out there because of some big business argument in the US. Put those same restrictions on books and you are in an a bad place.

I would rather pay a bit more for an open device and then choose the service provider that gives me the best deal.

The iphone is actually another offender in the way that it locks me into itunes (or would lock me in if I could afford one).

Come on China, make an open and cheap GSM enabled mobile phone with a big screen and a browser FFS!

yegon wrote:
Very happy using the iPod Touch for ebooks, helped somewhat by the truly epic collection of ebooks I've, ahem, acquired over the years.

do you mind me asking how that works? is it via a jailbreak application or does it come with some kind of ebook reader? or do you just have loads of jpgs

Yeah, post Jailbreak, there's an application with the imaginatively named "Books". Simply a matter of putting ebooks in a specific directory. Reads txt files and html files. Pretty basic app, but for reading linear fiction books (ie not journals or reference works) it does everything you'd expect. I imagine it'll be updated, plus there's little doubt that once the official devkits are out there, there'll be all manner of fuller featured readers.

The iPod touch is a nice device in the hand imo, so it's very good for reading books on. Uses very little battery life ime too.

Mobileread, e-reading forum (link found in that Wired article I linked to) - looks very interesting. I really like the look/sound of a couple of those machines, I wonder how easy they are to get a hold of in Europe? The Cybook looks especially interesting.

edit - I was doing an insurance valuation the other day for my impending move - I have over 20,000 quid's worth of books!

Think how much money I'd save in wall/floorspace alone by moving towards a digital library...

I'm not sure this has as much applicability as something like the ipod. What's the point of having craploads of books on a super expensive electronic reader? If you go on holiday, you're unlikely to take that many books, and paper ones aren't an issue if you accidentally drop them in the bath.

If you're reading at home or on the train, I can't imagine a big plastic lump is very comfortable or practical.

The idea of downloading books also fills me with luddite dread, the mp3 encourages lazy music listening, and the kindle (crap name) will encourage the same mental approach to books. Books must be smelled before purchase!

Well I do agree, really, on the whole, but I've found e-books massively useful on holiday and on my daily commute (and obviously for stealth reading in meetings). And like I said, I really don't have space for my thousands of books, if I could ditch say a third of them and replace them with digital versions that would really make my life a lot easier.